Hans von Ahlfen

Hans von Ahlfen (20 February 1897-11 September 1966) was a Lieutenant-General of the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was notable for his defense of the city of Breslau in present-day Poland against a siege by the Soviet Union's Soviet 6th Army during the campaign in Silesia.

Biography
Hans von Ahlfen was born on 20 February 1897 in Berlin, Prussia, in the German Empire (present-day Germany) to a family of noble German descent. He joined the Imperial German Army in October 1914 at the start of World War I as a cadet and fought in the war, giving him his first military experience. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany at the start of World War II in 1939 and was made the commandant of the German city of Breslau, Silesia, in present-day Poland. Ahlfen defended the city against a Soviet siege in 1945, and held out against the Soviets until the surrender of the Germans at the end of the war. The fortress' fall doomed the German resistance in Poland and eastern Germany and the Soviets were able to advance into Germany and Czechoslovakia consequently. He died in Oberdorf an der Necker on 11 September 1966 after the war's end.